The Ofs of Translation

Philosophy of translation:

The process of translation is very well equated to the process of transmigration of the soul, the Indian traditional concept of “Parakaya Pravesha” (entering of the soul into another body) or the ‘metempsychosis’ of Pythagoras. Schopenhauer maintained that in translation no less labor is needed that the ‘transference of the soul’. Here, the meaning is the inner content or the soul often text, and style as the outer aspect, its clothing. This would be an all-inclusive and most apt paraphrasing for TRANSLATION. This embraces varied ideas such as “translation is the unification of cultural contexts”, “translation is an interpretation”, “translation is the communication of meaning”, and “translation is about equivalence in meaning and style”, as G. Gopinathan in his essay ‘The Nature and Problems of Translation’ points out.

PSYCHOLOGY OF TRANSLATION:

Translation theories, from antiquity to date have been ‘product-oriented’. Nevertheless, it will also be interesting to note that while talking about translation, we pay very little heed to the process while making little attempt to describe and explain the process by means of which the translation is created. This is remarkable when we consider that translation, as a creative activity, takes place almost entirely in the mind of the individual. Psychology already provides us with various theories on the workings of the mind. Thus translation studies must also investigate the assumptions and methods of psychology and to seek out within that discipline which can explain the phenomenon of translation. The human mind is capable of taking in vast quantities of sensory perceptions and language at this level is no more than mere ‘noise’ without structure or content.

Linguistics is concerned with discovering and describing the systems, which underlie this ability that makes speech and writing possible. Psychology is concerned with discovering the nature of the human mind and modeling its activity. So the fundamental question for a psycholinguistic theory of translation is necessarily “how do translators do what they do?” or “what would a model of the process of translating and interpreting look like?” .A psycholinguistic model, therefore, involves the use of three systems viz-sensory information, working memory and long-term memory and depends on the essential interplay between these three systems, as put by Rajul Bhargav in ‘The Psychological Perspective in Translation Studies’.

Culture and Translation:

Cultural meanings are intricately woven into the texture of the language. The creative writer's ability to capture and project them is of primary importance for; this should be reflected in the translated work. Caught between the need to capture the local color and the need to be understood by an audience outside the cultural and lingual situation, a translator has to be aware of two cultures. One of the main goals of literary translation is to initiate the target-language reader into the sensibilities of the source-language culture.

The process of transmitting cultural elements through literary translation is a complicated and vital task. Culture is a complex collection of experiences which condition daily life; it includes history, social structure, religion, traditional customs and everyday usage. This is difficult to comprehend completely. Especially in relation to a target language, one important question is whether the translation will have any readership at all, as the specific reality being portrayed is not quite familiar to the reader.

Awareness of history is an essential requirement for the translator of a work coming from an alien culture. Thorough knowledge of a foreign language, its vocabulary, and grammar is not sufficient to make one competent as a translator. One should be familiar with one's own culture and be aware of the source-language culture before attempting to build any bridge between them.

If the reality being represented is not familiar to the audience, the translation stumbles and becomes difficult to read. The translator would have to consider whether similar or parallel language resources exist in the literary subculture of the target language. In translations of a culture rich in literature, the question of relevance to the projected audience is more significant to the translator than to the original author. A translator has to look for equivalents in terms of relevance in the target language and exercise discretion by substituting rather than translating certain elements in a work. Even with all the apparent cultural hurdles, a translator can create equivalence by the judicious use of resources.